Writing is like T20 batting. If you block, you might as well retire to the pavilion! -- Pete Langman
Expat in Germany

Saturday, June 13, 2015

One of the worst things!

Mahati went about her daily chores. Wake up an hour after the alarm ring, get ready to slog for ten hours in a crammed cubicle in a centrally air conditioned building which largely smelled of coffee from the cafeteria. She made sure she got her lunch box, lest she has to spend seventy rupees on a muffin. She also made sure she wore the right shoes so that she would not slip on the highly polished floor in her office.

In the quarter hour she managed to get to grab a bite, she finished her lunch. She had no option to sit down and relish the taste of every morsel of food. She, however made sure she did not waste any food. She ate to the last piece carefully. "There are millions of people who don't get this one tiny box of food for an entire day," she thought. "Every farmer when he gets the harvest to his hand, feels one thing more than anything else. He is not worried about how much profit he gets. All he is worried is whether his hard work would be useful for some purpose or will it go waste? Profit, he might get a lot sometimes. Sometimes, he might not. He just have to understand the demand of the market. But will his sweat-child feed people? Or will the harvest lay wasted in those useless go-downs? Will it be enjoyed by those disease infecting rodents?" Mahati felt an increased respect for farmers in the country. Their love for the land and its gift to humankind. "This is definitely the mindset of an average farmer. His hardship should never go wasted. We should consume only how much ever we need. Not a bit more, not necessarily a bit less!"

She looked around in the dining area. People got food from the cafeteria in trays, filling them with a plethora of the non-local food they could find. Mahati observed that nobody ate fully. A farmer's heart is welling up somewhere in this world, she thought. Wasting food is one of the worst things man can ever do. It should be considered a sin. Maybe, wastage should be made a part of gluttony as the seventh deadly sin. It should be propagated well by the world leaders. Every religious and scientific text talks about the importance of food. Why don't people see the greatness and the difficulty in germination, in growth? It is very easy to throw away food. You need not check the soil condition, need not worry about manure, rain, irrigation, pests. You need not constantly monitor the food when you throw it away. You just drop your food in the bin with no second thoughts. "Well, yeah India now has the highest number of hungry people. They could be fed if the food is not wasted in such huge amounts. If the wastage in a small cafeteria itself is so huge, what about big restaurants, marriage ceremonies and even those silly birthdays which are celebrated as grandly as the independence day celebrations! There is enough to feed everyone in the world. Only that everybody does not get the access! There is one password. Money!," thought Mahati and left the place furiously.

"On the top of all this, the most disgusting thing is that, those who waste food do so in the confidence that there is always somebody or the other who will accept those leftovers. That is pathetic. That kind of thinking should definitely change" concluded Mahati as she traveled to her flat. She saw her roommate and asked what they should do for dinner. She got one immediate reply.
"First, throw the leftovers in the rice cooker from lunch to some dog!!"

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